Page 19 - Freedom in the world_Neat

Australia, for example--have adopted policies to curb union strength, none of the
established democracies has gone as far as the United States in tolerating employer
practices that discourage union membership.

Advocates of workers' rights have multiple complaints about the current state of labor
policies, labor law, and the institutions that adjudicate labor issues. Among the more
significant issues are the following:

While the National Labor Relations Act enshrines the rights of workers to form unions and
engage in collective bargaining as a basic principle, those rights are frequently denied
because of weak enforcement by the Department of Labor, the courts, and the NLRB.
Union supporters at many companies are subject to discrimination, harassment, and
dismissal. While dismissal for union advocacy is illegal under U.S. law, many companies
ignore the law due to the weak penalties for violations of worker rights, which are usually
limited to reinstatement and back pay.
There is a lack of balance in a union's ability to present its case to workers. At many
corporations, antiunion arguments are presented to workers from the day they are hired,
including at captive-audience meetings and in frequent one-on-one discussions with
supervisors about the problems of union representation.
Employers warn of plant closure should unionization occur. According to labor law, it is
illegal for management to threaten to close a facility if the employees opt for union
representation. Increasingly, management representatives have been "predicting" that
closure was possible or likely under union conditions, a practice which, union advocates
contend, has had a powerful impact on workers' willingness to organize.
There are lengthy delays in the judicial system and at the NLRB. Union advocates complain
that cases of unfair labor practices are often stuck in litigation for years, denying justice to
workers who have been unfairly penalized and discouraging workers from pursuing union
representation.
Management often bargains in bad faith. Unions frequently encounter situations where
collective bargaining for a contract takes place, but management goes through the
motions without any intention of reaching a contract.
The number of workers eligible for union representation has declined. Under U.S. law,
supervisors are exempted from normal labor-law coverage. In recent years, the courts and
the NLRB have issued decisions that have continually expanded the roster of workers
lumped under the supervisory category, thus rendering them ineligible for union protection
and other benefits.7
Like much else today, the debate over union decline has become increasingly polarized.
Employers and their political allies contend that union decline has little to do with
government policy and much to do with shifts in the economy, technological advances,
changes in the workforce that favor part-time workers and the self-employed, union
corruption, and worker contentment with job conditions. Attitudinal surveys have generally
found that Americans favor most of the benefits and protections that come with union
representation while at the same time harboring mixed or negative feelings about unions
themselves.

Another problem facing unions stems from an increase in the role of government in the
economy. Many workplace issues that might be dealt with by unions are increasingly the

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